Railroad track guidance systems and methods

A method for locating and servicing assets along a predetermined path, the method comprising:

• obtaining survey data of a predetermined path by traversing the predetermined path a first time, the survey data including previous features of the predetermined path;
• analyzing the survey data, the previous features of the predetermined path including assets;
• generating a guidance plan based on analyzing the survey data, the guidance plan identifying specific assets along the predetermined path;
• traversing the predetermined path a second time with an inspection system after generating the guidance plan, wherein generating the guidance plan is done prior to traversing the predetermined path the second time and wherein traversing the predetermined path the second time is done after completely traversing the predetermined path the first time;
• using the inspection system, obtaining inspection data of the predetermined path, the inspection data including current features of the specific assets along the predetermined path;
• and
• using one or more processors, comparing and correlating the current features of the specific assets and the previous features of the specific assets to determine a position of the inspection system.

A method for locating railroad components along a railroad track, the method comprising:

• traversing a railroad track a first time obtaining survey data, the survey data including prior features of a plurality of railroad components along the railroad track;
• obtaining a guidance plan, the guidance plan including an identity of each of a plurality of specific assets, the specific assets being railroad components along the railroad track that have been identified to warrant additional inspection, maintenance, or replacement based on the survey data;
• traversing the railroad track a second time with an inspection system after obtaining survey data and after obtaining the guidance plan;
• obtaining inspection data with the inspection system;
• and
• traversing the railroad track with a tool and aligning the tool with one of the plurality of specific assets using the identity of the one of the plurality of specific assets, wherein the tool traverses the railroad track behind the inspection system.

A method for correlating inspection data, the method comprising:

• creating a guidance plan impulse signal of survey data that includes previous features of specific assets along a predetermined path;
• creating an inspection data impulse signal of inspection data that includes current features of the specific assets along the predetermined path;
• separating the survey data and the inspection data into one or more groups;
• and
• aligning at least a portion of the inspection data with at least a portion the survey data based on irregularities in the one or more groups.